Saturday, 23 June 2012

Imaginary War - The Tide Has Turned

Single review by KevW

In 2004, Welsh new wave veterans The Alarm conned their way into the top 30 by disguising their new single as the debut by a fictional band called 'Poppy Fields' which came with a video of a much younger band miming along. The hoax was eventually revealed but the question remains; would the song have achieved that level of success had it been released as The Alarm? The answer is almost certainly not, and proves that , although it shouldn't matter a jot, age is unfortunately a factor. The reason this example is relevant to the release of this new single from the forthcoming debut album by German synth-pop group Imaginary War is that the accompanying eyeliner-heavy video reveals them to be no spring chickens themselves.

Had 'The Tide Has Turned' been the comeback single from Two Door Cinema Club then Radio 1 would be all over it. As it stands, it'll probably fizzle away into nothing, and that's both unjust and superficial. 'The Tide Has Turned' is made up of post-punk guitars, retro electronics and owes a debt to Depeche Mode and New Order. It's also a consummate example of classy, radio-ready pop music with an arena-sized chorus. By rights it should be everywhere right now and well on its way to becoming one of the anthems of the summer. But the band aren't 21 and don't look like they've just been dragged through Topman's 'indie' section, so it will probably go largely ignored. And that's just not right.